Five of them, including Mr. Malik, have been charged in connection with an alleged fake fines scheme designed to make it look like they were working when they weren't.

The TTC employees, including a sergeant in a supervisory position, were dismissed and charged on Tuesday following a joint investigation with Toronto police.

"(The officers) would show up for work, they were in uniform, they would be in their vehicles, but they would not be where they said they were," said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

He would not say where the officers were or what they were doing when they were supposed to be working.

Several hundred provincial tickets were issued to homeless people who had no fixed address. The individuals would never have received the tickets or even been aware they had been issued, said Mr. Ross.

A joint TTC and Toronto police investigation, including surveillance of some transit enforcement officers, was launched in September after irregularities in tickets were spotted internally, he said.

TTC chairwoman Karen Stintz admitted that the news couldn't come at a worse time for the TTC, which has been trying to recover from long-running rider complaints about rude transit workers and poor customer service.

Four of the five charged TTC workers were on the so-called sunshine list of public employees making more than $100,000 annually, with one of the workers, Michael Schmidt, earning $129,000 in 2011. The three others on the sunshine list earned between $114,000 and $102,000 for that year.

Transit officers typically earn about $70,000. The TTC said the salary difference can be attributed to overtime.

Although no money was stolen, the officers are alleged to have collected pay for work they didn't perform, she said.

"Their job is to protect the public trust within the transit system and that trust has been violated by their actions," she said. "It is a big deal and we take it seriously ... we know we have a problem, we're addressing the problem and we're taking very strong measures.

"I can't underscore how disappointed I am, how disappointed (TTC CEO) Andy Byford is ... at a time when we're trying to rebuild the public trust and the public confidence in our system," Ms. Stintz said at a Toronto city hall news conference.

Mr. Byford is in the UK on a personal matter but issued a statement saying: "Integrity, accountability and transparency are critically important to me."

Any inappropriately issued tickets will be cancelled and the TTC is auditing its procedures to guard against future incidents, Ms. Stintz said.

Transit officers patrol the system for offences such as fare evasion, panhandling and loitering. They issue about 10,000 tickets annually for provincial offences. Many of the fabricated tickets were for loitering and solicitation, which carry a $195 fine.

The TTC doesn't issue tickets to homeless people, but many are known to transit officials because they're seeking shelter on the system, Mr. Ross said.

"These are individuals who are in the system routinely, who are trespassing, panhandling or loitering. They're known to us as people our transit enforcement officers would see daily," he said.

The TTC officers are members of CUPE Local 5089 but do not have a contract yet. CUPE spokesperson Kevin Wilson said the union will not be commenting at this time because the case is still under investigation.

"We have to respect the process," Mr. Wilson said. "We have no comment until all the facts are known."

The arrests and firings won't affect the TTC's ongoing efforts to have special constable status reinstated to its enforcement officers by Toronto Police, said Ms. Stintz. That status was revoked partly because the Toronto Police Services Board said some TTC special constables were overstepping their authority. Police presence was beefed up in the transit system to compensate for the loss of TTC special constables.

Charged with attempting to obstruct justice and fabricating evidence are Michael Schmidt, 44, of Barrie, two counts each; Tony Catic, 45, of Oakville, two counts each; John Posthumus, 44, of Toronto, three counts each; Jamie Greenbank, 48, of Milton, one count each; and Neil Malik, 38, of Ajax, one count each.